Family Ties That Bind
by renandli
Summary: A young man is kidnapped and the BAU team is called in, Reid realizes that the mother is a friend he lost touch with decades ago. While working the case, Reid receives information that changes how he views his past and how to proceed into his future. Rated M for language and general CM topics.
1. Chapter 1

His prey was jogging toward the parked car. A big boy, wiry brown hair bouncing as he grew nearer with every step, windbreaker flapping around a green t-shirt and jean shorts. The man made to step out of the dark green car he had stolen that morning. Pausing as the boy stopped to greet a small child who just emerged from the long grass at the edge of the road. The small red head with a fishing pole over his shoulder, stirred the man's blood but he had a bigger prize on his mind. Getting out as the duo walked toward him, the man closed the distance until he could hear quiet conversation.

The red head caught sight of the man first, abruptly he stopped his chattering about his fishing trip, making the bigger boy look around. The man could see the boy gulp and press the other boy behind him. The man laughed cruelly to see his son trying to protect his little friend.

"You've grown big, Robert." Indeed, looking at the boy was like looking in a mirror from the past. Both tall, with the uncontrolable brown curls, his own cropped short by the prison barbers. The man felt the familiar pull of ownership as he looked into his son's scared eyes.

Drawing nearer, the man seemed to grow even larger or maybe the boy just grew smaller. The man reached past his son and tousled the red hair before it cringed away from his touch, eyes crafty and challenging upon his son.

"Russell, run, get away." The red head dropped his forgotten fishing pole and disappeared quickly into the weeds.

Robert was frozen in place as the man barked with laughter, "So eager to be left alone with me?" The hand that had tousled the other boy came up to pat his cheek, before pulling back and cracking across is face. The boy fell to the ground only to be pulled back to his feet by the hair. "That bitch will not take you away from me so easily, Robert." The boy wriggled out of his windbreaker and threw it onto the edge of the road, the man didn't notice at the time.

The man wrenched the back door of the car open and shoved his son down into the leg room of the back seat. "Stay still and shut your mouth." One last threatening glance before he covered his prey with a raggedy blanket. The boy laid there praying under his breath while the car started and took him away.

/\/\/\/\

Special Agent Aaron Hotchner represssed a loud sigh as he flipped yet another manila folder open, his door was open to allow the gentle mummer of the early arrivals in the bullpen to reach his ears, it would not be appropriate to clue his co-workers in on his boredom. He had a reputation to maintain. A born leader, Hotch, instilled confidence in his team by holding himself to even higher standards than he held them. His dark eyes skimmed the new information as he propped the folder up in front of him, he permitted himself a slight smirk to hide a yawn.

"You have a girlie mag in that folder?"

David Rossi leaned comfortably against the door jam, not going so far as to laugh as the stoic man at the desk dropped the folder, but there was a gleam in his eye as he stode into the room to take a seat. Seeing just another collection of police reports, Rossi grimaced at the victim's picture stapled in the upper left hand corner, "Too bad, you look almost as tired as I feel." Hotch had noticed the slight ruby tinge in the older man's eyes but decided to not mention it. "Anything I can help you work through?" Pouring over reports was a large part of the job, Hotch thought he must look bad indeed for Rossi to offer help.

Before the banter could truly begin, Jennifer Jareau, JJ, poked her head in the door. "Come on boys, we just caught a kid knapping." The scant handful of information was slapped against the door frame as her heels clicked down the stairs to the bullpen, herding the rest of the team together. The men shrugged at each other as the usual excitement started to mount in their bellies. Rossi snagged his go-bag and met Hotch to follow the communications liason, both dreaded and yearned to learn more about what had lit such a fire under the youngest member of the team.

"Locals are on the scene in Carrsville, reports from the family suggest that the young man was abducted less than 2 hours ago." JJ was briefly filling in Emily Prentiss and Derek Morgan who were at their desks.

"Who was abducted?" Spencer Reid walked up as he stirred his highly sugared coffee.

"Micah Clemmens. Carrsville, VA. Cars will be ready in five. It'll take maybe 20 minutes to get there if traffic is good." JJ glanced at Hotch for confirmation, he nodded, before JJ sped off to her office to collect her go-bag.

"It's not often we get contacted so quickly. Let's take advantage of it and find this kid." Hotch strode out the double doors of the BAU offices to the elevators, confident that his team would do everything possible to find the missing boy.

/\/\/\/\

Chic Emily Prentiss rode shotgun in one car as Morgan drove, Reid was in the backseat trying to balance coffee and a legal pad on his lap. Sweeping a dark curtain of hair out of her eyes, she adjusted the smart phone in her hand so she could see their flamboyant technical analysist clearly.

"Tell us about the family, Garcia." Emily knew that the other car would be watching and listening to the same information so kept to the facts of the case.

Penelope Garcia did not.

"Not even a hello on this gorgeous morning, Emily? Its okay, I will try not to be offended. To the reason we come together today. It is the Clemmens family.  
Family is a loose term but it takes all kinds. The four kids in the house are foster chldren: Micah is 16 and the one who was abducted, Preeta is 15, Cevin is 14 and the baby Kadin is 4." Garcia provided a picture of the family: a slight platinum-blond boy, a beautiful indian girl with wary eyes, a toddler with dark hair hid his face in the shoulder of the young woman holding him and a small giant loomed behind the group, hugging them all together. "School records indicate that Micah and Preeta are average to good students, but Cevin is a bonnafide genius as far as testing goes. Micah and Cevin are also into extra-cirriculars such as starting fights."

"I have a guess but confirm, which one is Micah?" Morgan exclaimed as his eyes darted between the photo and the road.

"Micah would be that big hunk of boy towering over the rest."

"How does a kid that big get kidnapped?" Rossi chimed in from the car ahead of them.

"If the kidnapper had a weapon or threatened his family, does it really matter how big the victim is?" JJ threw her two cents in snapping her phone closed, "Sheriff Pritchard is at the house, as I understand it, he's a family friend."

The black SUVs turned onto a two lane road, the main businesses of the town ran along each side. Although early, townspeople were going about their errands. The locals took notice of the two new vehicles on their territory, many stopping to stare. A group of old men stood in a cluster gaping at Hotch, two split from the group pointing at Emily before stumbling further down the road to spread some unknown news.

Emily's eyes widened as she watched the town spring to life, a mixture of fear and excitement seemed to run through the town. "Are you all seeing this? Those people are pointing at me."

Teens, free from school during the summer, whooped and waved at the lead car. "Well the kids seem glad to see us." Rossi added dryly.

"Any info on the mother, what's her name?" Derek brought the conversation back to the point as the cars left the main drag behind.

"Do you really think I haven't run her down already, shame on you Derek Morgan." Garcia adjusted her pigtails before continuing. "Unfortunately, from what I found, she is clean. Has lived in Virginia for most of her life, a short stint in Vegas when she was a girl. The family still resides in her childhood home, sharing with the man who took over the family business, Stephan Rutherford, 50, mortician and county coroner. The business is located on site, enjoy that."

"Mortician for a father, lives in a house with corpses and raising four foster kids, cuts down on the suitors I imagine. Is Rutherford a bigger part of the family than just a business partner?" Emily watched her friend's fingers fly across the keyboard as she kept sifting her information.

"No such luck, the relationship seems pretty boring. The two are completely seperate, no joint accounts, no hanky-panky, business above boards. The four foster children currently in residence...looks like she has been working with her lawyer to begin the adoption process. Except for the baby, each has lived there for over two years. Micah has been with her for five years now. Now, she has fostered other kids, always has extraordinary reports from child services. Each child that is sent over by the state of Virginia has been successfully placed with other parents, and look to be doing just fine. Healthy and happy."

"Adoption takes years, why bother with the older children? They'll be of age before the paperwork gets filled." Morgan interupted.

"Well that's the thing, she's a wiz with paperwork. She makes her living cutting through red tape for business and private persons. She expediated the building permits for two green energy companies, to considerable financial gain. All above boards. She tithes 20% of her earnings, lives in a mortage free home and volunteers her and her family's time to nummerous philanthrolical organizations. If she can do a back flip, she is offically my new hero. Sorry, Morgan. What it comes down to is she knows how to work the government and works it to the betterment of the world."

Hotch led Morgan through a gated stone wall, the large SUVs bumping along the dirt road as a cemetary rose on either side of the trail. "Keep digging, Garcia, the more information we have the better." A large gothic monstrosity revealed itself as the road angled upward, Hotch saw a sherriff leaning against a county truck speaking into a radio.

"Before you go Garcia," Reid's voice sounded rushed and a bit higher than usual, worried to Derek's ear, "What's the mother's name?"

"Oh, yes, junior G-man...Seraphina Clemmens."

A three story house was perched at the apex of the curved driveway. Turrets poked at the sky above the off-white paint and dark gray trimmings. Evidence of children littered the front of the house, over grass and porch, bright plastic toys mixed with various sporting balls. An addition veered off the east side of the building, signage for 'Clemmen's Mortuary' hung ornately above the shallow stone steps that met double oak and glass doors.

A concrete slab angled down to a set of bay doors sunken into the hill behind the building. Terraced levels surrounded the home, tombstones radiating out in orderly rows. Large monuments lined up with the eight compass points on nearly every terrace. Walking paths meandered through the greenery and stone. An abandoned bicycle was visable at the base of the hill. Near the house were three squad cars, one of which was marked as a K-9 unit, and the county truck which supported the sherriff, who was now animatedly talking into his cell phone.

When the cars rolled to a stop, the team streamed out dragging supplies out with them. JJ noted the sound of barking dogs in the distance as the morning sun heated her shoulders. As the contact person, she strode to met Sherriff Pritchard with an extended hand. He was late 30s, thickly built, with a bit of shaggy hair peeking out from his cowboy hat. His tan and brown uniform already looked rumpled this early in the day.

Shaking firmly, Pritchard greeted her, "Agent Jareau? Sherriff John Pritchard, glad y'all could come down so quick. The family's beside themselves and..." Pritchard's light drawl tappered off and the man went pale as the rest of the team came forward.

Uncertain as to what distracted her new aquintance, JJ made introductions. "These are SSAs Dave Rossi and Derek Morgan. Dr. Spencer Reid, and SSAs Aaron Hotchner and Emily Prentiss." The sherriff ignored Rossi's outstretched hand and vaguely nodded as the other names tumbled from JJ's mouth. Pritchard's eyes darted from Hotch to Emily and back again. The entire team froze as they saw him reach his hand out and roughly poked Aaron in the shoulder.

Pritchard exhaled his breath loudly, "Oh good God, sorry, I thought-thought you were a ghost. Thank God!" He spat after saying the word ghost but looked very much relieved before turning to Emily. "And you, no wonder the entire town's in an uproar, you look just like Desdemona. Except for the nose. Dispatch called to tell me that Sera's family had come already." Emily's hand self consciously went to her nose. Pritchard removed his hat, the team could see the sweat on his forehead, he wiped himself down with his hankerchief, chuffing the goose pimples on his arms.

"Probably has its fair share of ghosts, this house." Rossi tried to disapate the uneasy feeling around his team.

"Not so's you'd notice, sir. Once you get inside, you'll see what all the uproar's about." With a bright smile that did not fit the occassion, Pritchard invited the confused team up the stairs, "We have a room set up as Miss Jareau specified, boards and what not. We'd have brought you in to town but Sera refuses to leave unless I'll let her go trapsing through the forest looking for Micah. She'd go out there with a machette and look until she died of starvation, if I let her. For the mean time, I got her convinced the dogs are the best method, not sure how long she'll wait for results though." Pritchard stopped by the front door.

A sign hung at shoulder height:

House Rules 1. The Golden Rule 2. Control your temper 3. Duels at dawn, swords only

Pritchard checked his firearm, insuring the safety was in place and placed his pocket knife in his boot. "Watch your weapons, the little one's a shit head." With a final look at the sun, Pritchard lead the way calling over his shoulder, "Welcome to the powder keg."

/\/\/\/\

The main door opened into a wide foyer, wood floors spread out in all directions and a circular stairway rose from the center of the room, disappearing from sight into the ceiling. "The office is this way."

As the team wound around the house Morgan asked Pritchard, "Since you know the family, anything happen recently that would maybe spur Micah to run away, foster kids do it all the time. Why do you think this was a kidknapping?"

"Physical and emotional abuse is common in foster families, maybe there is something going in the house." Reid was not able to provide any statistics due to an angry shout that preceded a short boy hurtling out of a side room.

Reid was saved from the snarling boy as a woman ran toward the group, grabbed the boy and twirled him around to shove his face to the wall. The boy's nose was pressed into the paint, her hand latched onto his neck as the rest of his body squirmed to attack the FBI agent. She pressed a bit harder on the sides of his neck when the boy planted his palms on the wall. Rossi and Hotch, both had instinctively stepped in front of Reid, relaxed as Morgan replaced his gun in its holster. Reid was staring at the back of the woman's head, studying the suddenly familiar twists of her dark hair.

Sera Clemmens, ignoring the others for the time, forced her arm to remain steady as she felt the strain lessen under her fingers. She waited for the red flush to drain from his face before she spoke, "Are you calm?"

Cevin waited a moment longer before replying. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. We do not have time for you to act out on your frustrations today."

"Didn't you hear what he was saying? He thinks you abuse us, he is so wrong, I can't let some random doink talk about you like that."

"I don't care if they call me murdering whore, puppy-kicking rapist. These agents are here to find your brother and we will do everything possible to help them with that task. That includes but is not limited to; answering every question honestly and in English, expanding the information provided if the right questions are not asked, spilling any and all secrets that might lead us to Micah. It does not include attacking the feds or deputies causing their attention to be diverted. Do you understand your role?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good, now appologize."

Sera physically turned Cevin to face the slightly trembling Dr. Reid. Sera flinched as she looked into his face but remained quiet. Cevin caught the spasm of movement and scowled deeply at Reid. With true teenage stubborness he pivoted a quarter turn to Rossi, "I appologize for my outbust, Sera has treated me with the highest levels of love and respect since I entered her home. My mom would never abuse anyone in her care. Anything you and your team can do to bring Micah back would surely put us in your debt." Cevin caught his arms behind his back and ducked his head slightly, waiting.

"There would be no debt, son, we are only here to find Micah. Your mom is right about sharing any information you have, make sure you do. It can only help." Rossi clapped a hand on the teen's shoulder, Cevin's eyes rose to look him in the face. "No one here believes that there is abuse under this roof, we just need to talk out all possible options." Rossi softened his gaze as the overly formal boy breathed easier.

Sera mouthed 'thank you' from behind Cevin's back. Her hand smoothed the young man's hair as she dismissed him. "Go, stay with Preeta and Kadin, make sure they eat something, yourself as well, stay in the kitchen." Her eyes followed the boy down the hall.

As the door closed behind him, Sera sighed, "Hi Sparky." Reid blushed feverishly and gulped, JJ flashing inquisitive eyes his way as the group started again. Sera headed the way, eyes on the ceiling as she declared to the heavens, "You're a right fucking bastard, aren't you?"

/\/\/\/\/\

Hotch hooked Reid's elbow and pulled him into an empty sitting room. "You know Miss Clemmens?" Morgan followed.

Reid paced the small room, suddenly full of energy. "Seraphina was at my school for a few years, she moved away when I was eight. I was 6 when we met, she and her uncle Colin intervened when I was getting my ass beaten in a school yard fight. Sera grabbed a shovel from the yard workers and smacked Chad Johnston in the face. By the time he recovered, her uncle was with us and able to easily fend the bully and his friends off. She was my best friend for five years, even after she moved away, we wrote almost daily until the letters stopped when I was 11. I haven't seen her for over 2 decades and I don't know what happened. I'm amazed she recognized me." There was bitterness under the facts that Reid supplied.

"Why didn't you say anything in the car? Sparky." Morgan couldn't resist the new moniker. Hotch grimaced to slow any more teasing.

Reid bristled at the name but knew if he made a big deal about it, Morgan would never let it go. "I didn't know it was her."

"How many Virgian mortician's daughters named Seraphina Clemmens do you think there are, Sparky?"

"Morgan. You haven't seen her for 2 decades? We all know you eat your emotions, Reid. If there is any reason for you to not work this case, out with it now."

"Just because she dropped me 20 years ago, doesn't mean I'll let her son stay lost. I am fine Hotch. I'm prepared to work."

Hotch and Morgan exchanged a quick look, both knew Reid was far from fine but decided to drop it.

/\/\/\/\

As the men rejoined the group in the office, Sera was pulling a young boy from under the couch; an ankle in one hand, wrist in the other. Kadin giggled as she tickled his sides, holding him off the floor. "Where's your sister? If one of you's here, the other one is too." Kadin pointed at the window, easily giving his sister up. Sera gently dropped the gasping boy and stuck her head out the window. She helped Preeta climb into the room, gathering both children in front of her. "No more eaves dropping. If anyone asks you a question answer fully, Preeta stay with Kadin and Cevin in the kitchen. Start making coffee and iced tea. Feed your brothers and eat something, yourself. Now go, they want to ask me questions."

Staring at Reid, Preeta could be heard whispering to Kadin, "Isn't that guy on our mantle?" as they left.

When adults were once again alone, Sera fell into the leather great chair behind a huge desk. The chair spun as she slumped into its familiar comfort.

"Your girl's kind of literal ain't she?" Pritchard saw a small tired smile on Sera's lips as she rubbed her temples. A migraine was on the horizon. "You know, it wouldn't be such a horrible thing if you ate something as well, Sera." He looked down at his exhausted friend to be rewarded with a scathing glare as her fingers wrapped around the letter opener on the desk.

"You know that the adults in my family don't eat when one of our own is in peril. I can't break tradition now and if you suggest it one more time, I'm cutting out your eyes and I'll eat those. Just to make you happy, John." Fluttering her eyelashes, Sera released the weapon carefully before turning to the BAU members. "Please, do me a favor and check the room for kids before you talk out of turn." her eyes flicked at Reid before continuing. "Feel free to use this office for everything you need . I turned on the wireless network for your computers and if Micah calls he would dial my cell phone not the land line. Now, you have met everyone in the family, save Stephan, Mr. Rutherford is in his work area. Unfortunately Mrs. Saperstein passed last night, and death does not wait for other family emergencies."

Pritchard's radio skwaked to life, he turned to the window to hear better.

Emily asked, "But your children and Stephan have been on site all morning, is that correct? Can you go over the morning with us?"

Sera leaned her elbows on the desk, taking up a pen, she twirled and clicked the pen throughout her story. "Kadin woke me up at 5 am, saying he was hungry. He won't eat food that isn't given to him, so he always asks for food from one of us. I got up and we ate cereal together, he started drawing at the kitchen table, a dog or dragon, not sure. Micah came in as I started the newspaper. He drank from the orange juice jug and grabbed a granola bar. He added a bright yellow sun to Kadin's drawing before he left for his morning run. He always leaves around 6 and gets back just before 7. I told him to take a jacket cause I thought it smelled like rain."

Sera paused as she fought back emotions, when she continued her voice was thick with them. "About 6:30 Cevin and Preeta came in, Preeta made pancakes for herself and eggs-in-a-frame for Cevin while he was outside feeding our rabbits. Cevin was the first to realize Micah's absence, they're building a trebuchette, a catapult, and Cevin wanted to work on it. I won't let him do it on his own, in case something happens..."

Pritchard finally finished with his call, cleared his throat gently, "Sera, the dogs found something." Her eyes lit as she stood, a mixture of fear and hope. Pritchard put his hands out in front of him, "Don't get excited, they found a green windbreaker, looks like Micah's. I'm going over to confirm that. Stay here. I'll call with an update."

Morgan and Rossi stepped forward, Rossi said, "We want to look at the area where the jacket was found. We'll be able to work the case better if we get a feeling for the area."

The three men left, the room seeming to get larger in their absence. Sera fell back into her chair, lost in thought.

Gathering his team, Hotch said, "Prentiss, take Reid and go talk to Rutherford, look for motive and see if we can get more informaiton on Micah's movements this morning. Take a look around the house and yard too. JJ and I'll talk to Sera and her kids."

Over hearing the hushed voice, Sera broke in, "If you go out the front door, walk around to the bay doors. Here's a key. Probably have to pound on the inner door to get his attention, he plays music while he works." Sera removed a set of keys from her desk drawer, a Superman emblem thunked onto the desk as she left them for Emily to collect. "The big key is for the mortuary, square key is for the bay doors, and the small keys go to the out buildings on the property. John and his deputies have searched everything, but have a look round, maybe you'll see something."


	2. Chapter 2

Rossi sat shotgun as Pritchard drove to the meet up with the K9 unit. "We sent the dogs to follow the route that Micah took every day. The whole town knows the route he takes through town, I always meant to tell him to change it up, but you don't worry about boys the same you do with girls. And the kid makes me feel like a midget, I don't know how he could be taken."

"Let's be real, is anyone certain he was kidnapped?" Morgan stopped Pritchard's protest, "No, just listen. He's 16, maybe he got tired of small town life, found a cute girl, he's probably living it up in DC for the weekend, while half the cops in the state are out looking for him." Morgan was baiting the man for his reaction and everyone in the truck knew it.

Pritchard ground the gears of the truck as he slammed it into park, jerking his passengers against their restraints. He flexed his fingers on the steering wheel before turning to look Morgan in the eye. "How about you listen, Fed, Micah is not some runaway. He checks in with annoying frequency, no one has heard from him for hours now, his phone isn't on and he never shuts that thing off. He's the most careful kid I've ever met."

"Why's his school record littered with fights, if he's so careful?" Morgan challenged.

"If you read those reports through, you'd see that Micah ends fights, he doesn't start them. He has had a string of fights in the last few weeks but he was defending Preeta and witnesses reported that he took a defensive stand not pressing his physical advantage."

"As for running off, the kid doesn't know how to be irresponsible and he certainly isn't off with some girl, whooping it up. Hell, it wasn't until last Easter that the kid would voluntarily hug someone. Not his mom, not his sister, no one before then. The boy is slowly recovering from a nightmarish childhood. I don't know the whole story, but I've seen the scars and they're bad enough that I don't want the details because I would string up whoever did it. I have also witnessed the process he's made since coming to town and I am hoping to watch him grow into a halfway decent person, we need to find him. So get your head in the game. If you can't, get out, the interstate's that way." Pritchard jerked his thumb to the south and flipped around into his seat breathing hard.

Rossi gently said, "This is the second time someone has jumped down our throat in the last hour, all we want to do is help. Tell us what the hell is behind the anger. It only slows the investigation if you hold back information."

"I'm not holding anything back, I don't know what's going on. Its more a sense of dread. I don't know of any one in the area who would chance an attack on the Clemmens. Micah's a good kid, amazingly, and Sera is going to freak out if we can't find him. I know what to do for them as a cop, but as a friend its much tougher."

"Then you need to focus on how you can help her. This situation is excruatingly tough everytime we see it. We'll do everything possible and then some." Morgan added from the back.

"That's true. But the Clemmens, Sera is the lynchpin of the community, her family has been for decades. When the Klan tried to move into the city, Sera's daddy, Cedric, held the cemetary hostage, he was ready to desecrate the land. Around here that means damning generations to hell. The town chose to run the Klan out rather than try calling his bluff."

Pritchard got the truck moving again as he continued the story. "Now, Sera has always been pretty beneficial to the community. She's gotten scholarships for the kids, runs fundraisers, brings in new businesses. Heck, I even owe her for my job. She convinced me to go into law enforcement, got me a seat in the program. She took in my sisters and let us live in the house, so I didn't have to worry about anything. I was a 20 year-old orphan with two baby sisters to look after, she was fifteen and changed my life."

"Sounds like an awesome person to have on your side. Where's the problem?"

"The first thing she said to me this morning is that we need to recover Micah's body." Pritchard paused as he made a turn, "Sera lost her mind for a year or so when her parents died in an airplane crash. She was a zombie, wouldn't talk to anyone other than 'thank yous' and that's only cause she was raised right. She couldn't bury her parents, if she can't bury her son, she's going to go nuculear."

Rossi was shocked at the defeatest attitude. "The outcomes aren't limited to finding or not finding the body, we are still confident that we will find Micah alive."

"I'm not new to the game fellas, abductions rarely end well. And I just...I just have a bad feeling."

"The faster we move on this case the better Micah's chance of being found safe and alive. We work under that assumption until we know different." The three rolled out of the truck and met the officers blocking the road.

/\/\/\

"Wanna talk about it?" Emily shielded her eyes as she scanned the terraced levels of the cemetery. The day was getting hotter, never a good thing during stressful situations where tempers didn't need to flare any faster.

Not receiving a quick answer, she turned back to the building. "Come on." The two walked around the building, Reid lagging behind in thought.

"When we were little, she said she lived in a castle, I didn't believe her so I had her make me a map." They began the desent to the bay doors, "She labeled this the Catacombs. And that," Reid tipped his head back and pointed up at the chimney, "Was Sherlock Holmes."

"A kid nicknamed the crematorium 'Sherlock Homes'?"

"Her mom didn't want to say that it was a burning day so she would just look out the window and comment on how hard Sherlock was thinking. Sera mentioned it often in her letters." With a final look up, Reid went to the side door and pounded on it with an open hand.

Emily angled her head and caught a few strains of music from behind the door, the keys jangled as she unlocked the door. She was almost bowled over as the thump of drums assulted her when the door cracked. As the two walked into the clammer, the door slid smoothly closed, the 4 inches of steel hitting home to seal the noice in. The bay doors were similarly thick and they passed a serious block and tackle system that could only be used to ease those doors open for deliveries.

Emily didn't like being surrounded by all this sound while she was on the job. She was a rocker from way back, but a smoky club was one thing, this was quite another. She was raised to see mortuaries as solemn places to pay last respects and the Foo Fighters had no place in her version of a funeral. Her hand slipped down to unsnap her holster before she opened the inner door.

The sight they came upon wasn't in her definition of morticians either. Stephan Rutherford was banging out a drum solo and lip syncing with painful intensity. Even from across the room, Emily could see veins popping out of the man's neck and forearms. Closed eyes and guitar riffs shielded the BAUers enterance until the man hit a power note and opened his eyes to see two strangers in front of him. He embarrassedly fumbled the stereo controls, hitting nearly every button before finding the power.

"Sorry, Desa, hope you weren't waiting too long, just releasing some stress I... you're not Desdemona. Who are you people?" Rutherford's hair was messy from his recent performance, he finger raked it back under control. He moved forward, exposing his hawaiian print shorts and letting Reid see that his shirt was a promotional tee from a diner. His flip-flops were almost expected by this point.

"We're from the FBI, SSA Emily Prentiss and Dr. Spencer Reid. You are Stephan Rutherford, is that correct?" Emily shook his hand while Reid began pacing the room.

With a deep southern accent, he said, "Call me Ford if you want, y'all find something?"

"We are working with the locals to find Micah Clemmens, Dr. Reid and I just want to talk to you for a while."

"One of the deputies already asked me about my 'whereabouts' this morning but sure, shoot." Ford pivoted to keep Reid in his sight but submitted to Emily's questions. Ford had taken over the mortuary after Mr. Clemmens death, having been his apprentise. He bought the business from Sera ten years ago, to include the name and building. He had his own apartment adjacent to the mortuary, private entry and locks, but joined the family for most meals and during holidays. They went over his morning, matching up with the reports submitted by the deputy. He had spent the morning prepping Mrs. Saperstein, she was to be transferred to a funeral home in the next county in a few hours. The plans being changed in deference to Micah's disapearance. He repeated the line about death not waiting, Emily wondered who was parroting whom.

"So you cranked some music and sped up your work."

Ford's hackles raised as he sensed Emily's disapproval. In defense, he was more offhand than usual."Well, she's a fun gal, didn't think she would mind the tunes. Although she's probably more into Beatles than the Foo." He stared at Emily, waiting for the traditional joke about warming up a cold date.

Emily was startled as Ford shouted, still staring at her with cold blue eyes, "If you open that drawer, I will cut your fucking hand off!" Ford and Emily both whiped around to see Reid jump, his hand on the release to one of the body drawers. Ford was at the man's side in a blink of an eye, swatting the hand away. Reid backed away from Ford, surprised by the outburst. "Its my responsibility to protect these bodies while they are under my roof. I don't care if you are Feds, you can't just go about disturbing their rest. If you need something, you ask, savvy?"

"What are all the c-colored flags for?" Reid couldn't keep the stutter from his question, he had only been curious about the post-its on the front of each drawer. Four were neon pink, the other 16 boring yellow.

Ford answered in a clipped manner, "The colors are holding current guests, the yellow are empty. Was it that so hard?" Ford's eyes narrowed as he studied the man in front of him. "Do I know you?"

"I've never been here before." Which was the truth, but he added anyway. "I knew Sera when we were kids. In Vegas."

Ford pinched the bridge of his nose and ruffled his hair again. Not getting enough release he pushed his palms into his eyes, pressing hard. The agents watched as he took a seat, slouching his back against the work table. He put his head back and spoke to the ceiling, "God, why are you hitting us with all ths shit at once?" The fight seemed to leave the man, he emitted an palpable despair. Still addressing himself upward, "First you take Micah from our sight, then you send specters and half-remembered faces to torment us. I'd say you were funny, but really you're just an ass."

Reid gave Emily a sidelong glance, she was much more comfortable with this 'god' stuff than he was, it helps to have a lapse Catholic on the team. He nudged her forward as she shot him a scathing look.

"You always talk to God like that?" She tried a bit of humor to lighten the mood.

"I haven't talked to God in a long time, this is just a bad habit I've picked up living with the Clemmens. Unlike most around here, they have a personal connection with God, talk to him like an old friend rather than someone to be awed. The relationship is on the rocks, more often than not. Swearing is always involved, sometimes multiple languages. Basically, it won't help if I beat the hell out of Agent Reid so I abuse God cause that fucker can take the hit." Ford popped his knuckles before stomping off the stool to pace the floor.

Emily shuffled to shield Reid a bit. "Well, you're just making friends left and right around here, aren't you Reid?"

Reid flinched but remained quiet.

Curiosity finally got the best of Emily who blurted out, "When we came in here, you mistook me for someone else. Now, you're the second person to call me Desdemona. What's with that?"

"Desa is Sera's cousin, aunt, something like that. I can't keep the generations straight, probably aunt since I think Sera's the only one in her's." Ford went to a bookshelf stuffed with medical texts to unearth a battered photo album. He flipped through until he found a group shot. Six, obviously related, people raised glasses toward the camera, laughter could almost be heard from the happy faces. In the center, face tilted to the left was Emily's double, the difference being a puggish nose while Emily's was long and narrow. The woman was younger but the same wide mouth and bright eyes appeared with hair caught mid-flip.

"Well now I know what all the fuss was about."

Ford caught her eye, holding her gaze he commented, "Yeah, the similarity is remarkable. I realized you weren't her after a second but, you're real close. If it weren't for the badge I would accuse you of being family."

Their words went over Reid's head as he studied the picture, "Emily..." Reid's nose was almost touching the page as he looked at another part of the photo.

As she looked closer, Emily saw what was bothering him. A young, happy Hotch was staring out at them, arm wrapped around the neck of the man next to him. "Is that Hotch? No, way."

"I never saw the resemblance before," Reid mumbled to himself.

Ford leaned over to see who they had focused on, "Don't know who Hotch is but that's Cedric Clemmens, Sera's dad."

/\/\/\

JJ cleared her throat, trying to gain the woman's attention. Sera and Hotch were staring at each other, apparently at ease. Hotch could wait hours for the girl to break but they didn't have that type of time today. They still didn't have a lead, unless the K9 unit panned out.

"Miss Clemmens? You were going through the events of the morning?"

Sera shook her had to clear it, dragging her eyes away from Hotch. "Um, yes, Cevin realized that Micah wasn't back around 7:30 and brought it to my attention. Micah's phone wasn't on which was weird, so I called our neighbors to get a visual on him, but I lost track of him between the Brodrick's and Mjedovich's farm. Zed Mjedovich took a walk along his property but didn't see Micah. I called John Pritchard then, Micah's like a clock, takes the same route every morning, he's training to join a lacrosse club in the fall."

"So, he's pretty athletic?" Hotch made some notes as he asked the question.

Sera addressed his bent head, "Yeah, he hit a growth spurt last year, you've seen a picture, he's a big boy. I've been working with him to expand his social circle. He prefers to join city leagues rather than going for the school teams."

"How's he do within that team dynamic?" JJ heard a light southern accent emerge from her boss, realizing that he was mimicing Sera's voice.

"He's okay, doesn't join in the group outings afterward or the horsing around, but he holds his own. Celebrates the scores, good sport when the team loses."

"So he likes the activity but not the commradery? The other folks are just there, but not pals. Keeps himself to himself."

Anger flashed across Sera's face as she noticed the change in accent. "You don't have to trot out the drawl for me, Agent Hotchner, you've been swallowing it for years, don't waste the energy. Yes, Micah keeps to himself. As part of a team he can blend, the wins and loses are not solely on his shoulders which is why he stopped tennis and boxing. The people he plays are older but he is more comfortable with them than his peers who ask too many questions."

"Why does he avoid questions?" Hotch held her gaze and kept the drawl.

"Micah's father was a complete waste of oxygen. The boy's riddled with scars, scars that make teenagers ask questions, probing for weakness. The adults have too much on their minds to worry about an average player who's been knocked around. Doesn't hurt that Micah is a quick change artist."

Hotch heard JJ texting Garcia for more information on Micah's early life. "What's the father's name?" He wasn't ready to admit they hadn't had any information on the boy's abuse or family before the Clemmens.

"Richard Devareaux. You might want to forward the name Robert Devareaux to your computer person, that's Micah's given name."

It was Hotch's turn to have anger flood his face. "Micah's not his real name, didn't you think we needed that bit of information earlier? You've wasted a lot of time, time we don't have."

"It shouldn't matter, I've spent a lot of time and resources deleting Robert from the face of the earth, Micah's the real one now."

"Deleting? What do you mean?"

"Robert Devareaux doesn't exist any more, everything is Micah Clemmens now, birth records, social security, baptism record, school records from before he came to me. The only connection to his old life is his father, who is rotting in the general population curtesy of the great state of Alabama."

"Richard Devareaux broke out of prison yesterday." JJ butted in with the fresh information from Garcia.

Sera shook her head in disbelief, swallowing hard to keep her stomach in check she avowed, "That's not possible, one of the guards calls me if there are any changes. He hasn't called." Her hand groped until she found her phone, she checked the messages in vain, knowing she would find nothing.

"A guard was found beaten to death, Geoffrey Monroe. There were signs of torture according to the autopsy."

"Get Garcia to forward Devareaux's picture to the team and the locals. Morgan and Rossi can flash it around town since they're already out with Pritchard." Hotch watched as Sera's face crumpled with the new information, but he also knew it was the best lead they had, it was too much of a coincidence to have Micah's father kill the one guard that knew the family. They had to follow it up.

Sera laid her head in her arms on the desk, muttering, "Geoff had a newborn, they came here for Christmas last year." She pulled her head up, propping it on her fists to look at the doppleganger in front of her. Tears trickled down, right before she rushed for the trash can, retching as the fear took her.


	3. Chapter 3

He felt numb. He had often dreamt of the day he faced hs father again. In his sleep he had been braver, paying back every hit with interest. In this cold reality he couldn't gather the strength to even slow them down as his father dragged him from the car to be dropped onto the cracked cement of the shack.

Micah concentrated on remembering the route taken to the shack. He had sung twenty verses of 'The Song the Doesn't End' before the first turn, another two right, and a bumpy six before reaching his destination. He had purposly sang at the same pace the entire time, even as waves of fear tried to invade his mind. The short song had filled him with sweet memories of backyard camping in the cemetary, he had also chose it so he would have a general idea of how far the car had gone. Sera had sat him down shortly after he arrived to talk about surviving, and if he had the chance he planned to do just that.

Surviving was the first goal she had detailed for him. At the time he thought it was silly, this girl who couldn't possibly understand what he had gone through, talking about hope as a means of survival. The hours passed as she explained the difference between love and like, hate and anger, being happy and having grace. She had done all the talking at that first kitchen chat before leading him to his room. She had left sheets and blankets but the bed wasn't made, she said he could make the bed however he wanted and left him. He looked down at the first bed he ever had, standing there until dawn. When the sun peeked through his window, he got the courage to sit on the very edge.

Richard Devareaux roughly bound his wrists and ankles, but Micah couldn't concentrate on the words spewing at him as he lost himself to memories.

/\/\/\/\

The windbreaker that the dogs found had been Micah's, an old assignment was still twisted up in the front pocket from the school year. Unfortunately, the dogs lost Micah's scent, the agents agreeing that the boy must have gotten into a car. The dirt road was heavily traveled, wheel patterns crisscross the area, the state CSUs were still collecting photos if the case ever went to court. Morgan was about to reiterate his position that the boy was clearly just out having fun as his phone rang with the new information about Micah's father. The hopes of finding the boy alive and happy vanished from Morgan's mind.

Rossi and Morgan stuck together as they went around the town, they flashed Devareaux's picture at places a stranger might be recognized if they entered. None of the shop owners admitted to seeing the escapee. Entering the drug store Rossi walked up to the counter. A pretty girl put down a duster she had halfheartedly been waving at the magazine rack, "Hi!"

"Have you seen this man before?" Rossi scanned her chest and found a name tag, "Diedre?"

With an eyeroll, she leaned forward to study the picture. "Is this something to do with the Clemmens? Is it true that Micah was snatched?" She frowned at the photo and declared, "Sorry, I've never seen him." For the first time that morning, someone actually did look sorry.

Morgan came forward, "Do you know Micah?"

"There's 7000 people in town, everyone knows everyone. He doesn't hang out with us or anything, just with those other kids on the hill."

"What do you think of those kids on the hill?"

"Micah's okay, Preeta," Diedre paused to consider, screwing her face up, "she's nice enough but too quiet. Cevin, I don't know, Kadin seems to like him." she shrugged, dismissing the boy.

"Nothing else on Cevin?"

"He's a hot head, the teachers think he's some kinda crazy genius but I've never seen it." Diedre looked around to make sure no one else was in the store. "Listen, if you're looking for a stanger in this town, there's some kids you should talk to."

"Kids?" Rossi gave her a sceptacle look.

"Yeah, our parents aren't looking for a way out of here, and most of the codgers that line the street have glaucoma. But trust me, a lot of the kids make sure to know about any newbies in town. I'll take you to see them."

"Let's grab Pritchard."

"Hold on, I'm not bringing deputy dog to our hangout spot. It would be social suicide."

"Fine, lets go, clock's ticking."

"Meet me on the south side of town, I'll wait for you there, I'm not walking through town with you. You get to leave, I would have to suffer the rumors. It's about a half-mile past the last house." She glanced down at Rossi's expensive shoes, before yelling out. "Billy! I'm going out, bring your hide out here and man the counter!"

Diedre slipped out the door, confident that the men would follow, as a young kid came to sit on her vacated stool.

With a shrug, Rossi held the door for Morgan and headed for the outskirts of town.

While they walked, Rossi and Morgan flashed the photo at any passerbys. Single people would sneak looks at the Feds before hurrying away, but groups would huddle together, whispers about the I-talian and black man following the BAU members down the street. Everyone confirmed that Devareaux was not in their mental rolodex.

"You know, its been decades since I was refered to as an I-talian, feels like I'm a no-good teen again." Rossi sighed as he spotted Diedre ahead of them. The girl began walking again as the men got nearer, leaving a good 20 feet between herself and them.

"Bet you were a real hell-raiser, Rossi. I'm just amazed that the citizenry seems more suspicious of you than me." Morgan smiled as he teased the older man.

"Well, they've seen black people before." Rossi grimaced and added, "What did Sparky have to say about Seraphina this morning?"

"That he knew her, but that it's not an issue. You know how Reid is, he'll hold it in until he's ready to share. Hotch let it drop, so I did too. If we're lucky, Emily will whedle it out of him, she's good at tricking him into talking about his feelings. If not, we'll unleash Garcia." The men laughed at the thought of Garcia interogating Reid about Sera Clemmens.

A sharp whistle interupted the levity, Diedre was motioning from a dirt path, "Get your head out of the clouds, come on!"

The men backtracked, shortly the trio came into a clearing, a dozen teens were hanging out in a circle, another half-dozen were building something near the far treeline. One of the boys from the circle brushed off his shorts as he stood, he took Diedre in his arms and kissed her. The display would have lasted a lot longer but she pushed the boy away.

The rest of the teens, realizing they had been infiltrated, rose to their feet, ready to run. Diedre took over, "Calm down everyone, they're here about Micah. I thought someone might have seen something." Diedre whistled the builders over to join the group.

With rapt attention on him, Morgan handed his phone with the mugshot to the nearest kid. Each taking the time to really look.

A kid holding a saw shouted out, "Micah was kidnapped wasn't he?"

"That's the assumption we're working under, yes." Rossi and Morgan scanned the crowd, reading reactions. They read fear in many of the faces, two girls wiped tears away. "While we look for him, keep an eye on each other. There's no reason to believe that the unsub is going to attack anyone else but, better safe than sorry."

Morgan saw the teens revert to childhood as hands were held, the buddy system had been firmly established in these kids. "Diedre mentioned that y'all might see more than the adults in town, has anyone seen anything strange in the last day or two. Anything out of place?" His phone was handed back to him, no one could ID the man.

A super skinny boy ran his hands through his hair and half raised it, like he was in class. "Sir? I saw something strange. I mean, I saw a green Lincoln Continental go through town last night about 3 a.m. I was sneaking back in my house." The boy blushed, pausing, kicking at the ground and adjusting his thick glasses.

Rossi prodded him, "We aren't here to bust you for breaking curfew kid, one of your class mates could be in serious trouble. What are you getting at?"

"Well I know the car, sir. It belongs to Conrad Meevin. I delivered groceries to him last Wednesday, cause he broke his right leg when he fell off his roof. He couldn't have been driving the car last night, he has a full leg cast."

"Where does Meevin live? Did you see who was driving?" Morgan was already dialing Garcia to confirm the information.

"I think it was a guy, maybe tall. It was dark and I only noticed the car cause there aren't many landboats around here. Conrad lives on Banker Road, last house before you drive into the creek."

Rossi "What's your name kid?"

"Max Gibbons, sir."

"Well, Max Gibbons, come on, you need to make a statement for the Sherriff, and we need to start tracking that car down."

Max joined Rossi and Morgan as they trekked back to town. Rossi worked on getting more details from the boy while Morgan phoned in the update to Garcia.

/\/\/\/\

"I think Stephan Rutherford's off the list of suspects." Emily was glad to regain the sunshine even as the heat drilled into her head. Ford had given Reid the very detailed log he kept of the crematorium's operation. The amount of fuel was dead on from 8 days ago when the furnace was last fired up. Ford even reopened each of his drawers for them to look around, and gave cursory glimpses of his in-house customers, enough to make sure they were not Micah. As Reid poked around, Ford offered to seal him into one of the drawers, so he could get the full experience. The Feds took their leave from the exasperated man shortly after that.

The two searched the outbuildings, finding assorted landscapping equipment in five of them. In the last, the door opened onto a storage shed. Boxes were neatly stacked, nearly filling every inch but a narrow path down the middle. Emily saw that every box was labeled on the side facing the path. Reid started at the front of the pile, while Emily started at the back just looking at the labels to start. Most had names like, 'dining room 1975' or 'Phinnie's toys 1987'. One caught her eye, 'Sparky 1992'.

"Hey Reid! Help me with this." Emily began shifting boxes to unearth her treassure. "It has your name on it." Reid frowned when he saw the label but bit his tongue, Emily pressed two light boxes into his arms, "Take those up front, we need some room." She waited for him to return before ripping the tape off, like a kindergardner at Christmas.

And there it was, his entire friendship with the woman up the hill. Despite himself, Reid pawed through the papers and pictures. It looked like every letter he had ever written to Sera all those years ago. Emily grabbed a cookie tin, grunting as she tried to pry the metal apart. Inside was a mish-mosh of trinkets, movie tickets, strands of plastic beads, gumball machine rings, and oragami fortune tellers. A picture of the cutest Halloween couple she had ever seen was taped to the inside top; a bloody Little Bo Peep and her slaughtered sheep. In short, a shrine of a little girl to her best friend.

Reid shut out the sentimentality as per usual, even a Emily cooed over the picture. He tried to tell himself that it didn't matter that Sera still had these things. She had them hidden under a hundred boxes of memories after all. His own tangible memories had been burned during the rage of seeing yet another letter marked 'Return to Sender'. He couldn't forget the sound of the match exploding into the pools of lighter fluid in his backyard firepit. The last thing to go on the blaze had been the letter he had written that day.

Emily's phone went off, she hastily closed the tin and went out to answer it. Reid riffled through the papers again, surprised that the newest thing in the box was a newspaper article about his early graduation from highschool and the program from the ceremony. He noted that his name was circled by a heart in both, he didn't have time to think about that because Emily shouted in to him.

"Come on, Hotch wants up at the house, Morgan and Rossi found a lead and we might have an unsub lined up."

Reid slammed the box back together and hefted it out of the shed. He strained a bit as he walked past Emily, but he just climbed up the hill with his prize. Reid stowed it inside the government-issued SUV and ignored Emily's arched eyebrow to enter the house again. He heard her heeled boots cross the foyer behind him.

**Not getting very far with the investigation...sorry its more character driven than plotty. doubt a real investigation would go this way, but that's why its fanfiction right? right? hahaha hope you enjoy. **

**PS I don't know anything about Carrsville, I just chose a town near DC so I didn't have to worry about the jet.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Fill me in on Devareaux, Garcia." Hotch had stepped out of Sera's office to talk with his technical analyst.

"Well, Devareaux was discovered missing two days ago at the 6 o'clock cell check. Geoffrey Monroe, one of the guards on his cell block was found dead at 6:30 in the laundry, where Devareaux had worked earlier that day. Monroe was brutally beaten and then his throat was slashed. The warden and his people are still working on how Devereaux actually got out."

"Two days, that's enough time to get from Huntsville, Alabama to Virginia."

Yes, I checked with the surrounding area and narrowed our boy down to one car jacking. The blue Tahoe was found in Richmond, Virginia. He dumped it on a deserted chunk of road where he set it on fire."

"He knows the system, trying to get rid of any evidence. Richmond's isn't far, have you found the car he picked up there?"

"It was a busy night for car-jackings, but there were 3 that look likely. Two have already been picked up by locals, so lucky number 3 is our guy. Sending the incident report to Pritchard, ask him to issue a bolo for the silver Chrysler. He's had time to ditch it but if its in the area, I'd bet you have your man."

"Any more backround on Devareaux himself?"

"The thing is, my liege, I have been flipping over rocks left and right and there isn't any to be found."

"He's in jail Garcia, don't tell me that a court case has proved too devious for you and your electronic minions to hunt down."

"Me and my minions hit a dead end. Because, yes there was a trial, even the slimiest of felons get one of those in this great country, but it is sealed. Now, as you know, that rarely if ever slows me down. I went spelunking further using my tricks of the trade to mine that information for you, but there is nothing to mine."

"Nothing?"

"Nada, zilch, zippo. There is an annotation for the cour trial but nothing behind it. I don't know who the judge was, or what county it was tried in, no eyewitnesses, the lawyers aren't even available to find. No police reports that would lead to the trial, no reports before the trial. I've contacted individual police stations and there is nothing on the local level, no records not even people that remember the guy. It's pretty desperate when I lower myself to directly speaking with someone. I tried working from his birth certificate forward too, but Richard Devareaux is a ghost, almost like he popped into existence behind bars."

"But he didn't, he's had a life before and during prison. And there's at least two people who should know about it, one is down the hall. Good job Garcia, keep on top of the bolos for the cars, Devareaux and the boy."

/\/\/\/\

Reid headed down the hallway to their temporary command center, mind cluttered with memories he had long stored away, he jumped violently as Hotch shot out of a side room.

Reid's screech halted the other man's tragectory, causing Prentiss to run into him. Hotch steadied the woman, "Good, you're both here. Been talking to Garcia, looks like Sera actually has been busy erasing both the victim and our unsub from public record. We need that information to figure out what Devareaux wants with his son." The scowl that seems to be his default setting, softened as he gazed passed Emily's shoulder into the room behind her.

Over the mantle was a collage of framed photographs, many children. Hotch recognized most of them from the dossier that Garcia had put together of people Sera had fostered over the years. Most included an updated photo tucked into the corner of the frame; the same kid with another family, some with their own families, a couple had obits.

What drew him was the 8x10 family portrait of the two dark brunettes with a squirming bright-eyed child between them. The glass's reflection from the frame almost made the photo like a mirror for Hotch as he saw his younger self looking out at him. The updated photos were taped all over the frame, poking out at all angles, the oldest showed an akward teen staring into the camera next to a man so similar, it could only be an uncle or cousin, the newest was Sera and her clan surrounding a cannon while on vacation.

The photograph that drew Reid into the room was one of himself. It was his picture from senior year; adam's apple protruding, thick glasses, shellaced hair. Staring at his 12 year old self, he eventually took in the few photos surrounding him. A 4-set pulling faces in a Vegas photo booth, a newspaper clipping next to Morgan and one where everyone was piled on the couch surrounding his mother. Cevin was holding Diana Reid's hand. Reid snatched the photo with a trembling hand and ran from the room.

Entering the office, Reid slammed his hand into the wide desk, jolting JJ and Sera out of their conversation. "What the hell is this?" Reid moved his hand revealing the photo and watched as Sera looked at it.

So tired from worry, Seraphina couldn't even think of a lie to ease the news. "I visit your mother every other month. I've taken the kids maybe half a dozen times, Diana likes Preeta's s'more bars. Micah and Kadin hate Vegas but go to hear your mother's stories."

Through gritted teeth, Reid was able to keep from shouting, "How long?"

"Almost 10 years. She needed someone to check in on her, Spencer."

Reid shrugged off Hotch's tempering hand and strode from the room.

Hotch closed his eyes for a second to let the room calm. He decided to ignore the last minute of his day and push forward. Micah didn't have time for this distraction, he made a mental note to sit Reid down and talk to him about this.

Emily stepped forward, "Sera, we have lead on our unsub, we think we know who took Micah."

Hotch clicked in, "We need to know everything about Richard Devareaux, we've tracked him to this region and he looks more and more likely." Hotch watched the short lived hope drain from Sera's face.

"I don't have the information any longer. I've gone to lengths to destroy all information linking Micah to his past. I found out that Richard Devareaux was still alive, so I made contact with a guard to keep tabs on him. I go any time there is a parole hearing to make sure he stays behind bars. When he came to me, he had been in the system for three years, no one wanted an eleven year old. He was unresponsive and sullen, wouldn't take the help people tried to give him. This house was his last chance before being lost to an overcrowded group home. A week after arriving, Micah chose his new name to keep people from calling his name. Calling him Robert, sets my son off like nothing else. He became more human after that burden was off his shoulders. Micah suits him well."

"So you succeeded in obliviating his past but didn't keep any of the information? How is that even possible? Our tech could find the seating chart from my third grade class." JJ was incredulous, Garcia had never been stumped before.

"You can't find what's not there, Agent." Sera leaned back propping her head against the back of her chair and looking into the distance. "But...Micah has a box. It has a lot of the information there. In case he needs to understand when he's older."

"Where is it?"

"Somewhere in the house, I guess. I told him to hide it away. Cevin might know..." Sera left her chair, leaving the room at a run. The agents followed her to the kitchen.

When the door to the large kitchen swung open, the kids were jumping around to Journey.

"Another music number, great." Emily muttered to herself.

Sera turned off the stereo and the kids quickly stopped their performance, panting as they looked around in the silence.

Preeta apologized first, "Sorry, momma, we ran out of VegeTales songs. I know we shouldn't be having fun, but Kadin was getting anxious and Cevin wouldn't stop playing with his lighter..." Sera kindly covered the girl's mouth to stem the flood of words.

Sera squeezed the girl in a big hug before turning to Cevin. "Do you know where Micah's box of stuff is?"

"He has a couple, which one do you want?"

"Cevin... don't make this harder. I need the box with all the information about his family and before he came here. Do you know were it is, or do I need to start ripping the house apart."

"Destroying the house wouldn't help, its not here anymore."

"Please tell me y'all haven't burned it."

"No, we buried it." Cevin went to stand in front of Emily. "Can I have the keys back, I need to get some shovels."


	5. Chapter 5

Conrad Meevin's home was little more than a shack down by the creek. Rossi pounded on the door three times and watched the walls shake with each hit. "Meevin, Conrad Meevin. FBI. We want to talk to you."

The door opened inward to show an old man with a full leg cast, limping without the use of crutches as he balanced a shot gun on his shoulder. Rossi backed away quickly, putting a wide distance between himself and the muzzle with his hands in front of him.

"Put the shot gun down, sir! I'm Special Agent Dave Rossi with the FBI, I just need to talk to you about a theft that was reported to us." At the word shotgun, Morgan pulled his gun, angling himself to gain a clear shot through Meevin's window.

Pritchard, after pulling his own weapon, shouted from by the truck, "Conrad, Sherriff Pritchard, here. These folks really are Feds."

"Johny-bird, that you?" Not lowering the shotgun, Meevin called out to the sherriff. "You know I don't like your kind around here. Get your scrawny butt, outta here. Off my property."

"Conrad, you crazy SOB! You shoot a FED and you'll never get 'em to leave you alone."

Rossi watched as Meevin weighed his options, with a huff, he lowered his weapon, "Well, shit! What the hell you want, now that you're here?"

"Come on out here, Conrad. You owe us that much for pulling on us. I'm not going into that tumble down building you call a house."

"How you like that? Trespassing, bringing Feds with him, and insulting my home. Call that law enforcement?" The man shuffled out the door. In the fullness of the summer day, Rossi realized that Meevin was more Pritchard's age than his, one of those 'born old' guys. If Meevin was over 40, Rossi would buy everyone in town a car.

Meevin used his shotgun as a cane to get over to an exposed tree stump which he used for a seat. Pritchard walked over, while stowing his weapon, "That thing better be unloaded Conrad." Pritchard snatched the shotgun away from the man, cocked it open and removed one shell. Holding the shell up, Pritchard shook his head, "There's 3 of us, asshole. I should lock you up on principle. Save you from yourself." He handed the empty shotgun back and pocketed the shell.

"Second Amendment mean anything to you, law man?"

"You're not in your house any more, so...No. Now, Conrad, these gentlemen want to ask you some questions."

Morgan hid a smile by coughing into his elbow. "Mr Meevin, we heard that your car was stolen earlier this week."

"Yeah, the FBI come out for dang hooligans now?"

"We're looking for the car in connection to a child abduction in town, when did you notice the car was gone?"

"I didn't have nothing to do with no kidnapping, the car was gone this morning. Didn't hear when it left, damn doctor gave me pain pills, knocked me out."

"Do you know when you fell asleep last night?"

"Sundown was about 9...so about 10, keep the same hours as the sun more or less. Then up at 4:30, leg was itching."

"You see anyone around that shouldn't be, other than us, I mean." This time Morgan let the smile show.

"I went down to catch some fish for dinner last night, a big guy was sitting on the rocks whistling. I told him to scram from my fishing hole, that his noise probably scared off my food."

"What happened when you confronted him?"

"Gave me a weird smile and then saunted off into the woods. Something weren't right about that guy, hence the less than warm reception just now. People can say all sorts of things through a door, don't mean any of are true."

Rossi could smell a good lead, "That is good obeservation, Mr Meevin. Can you look at a picture and tell us if you've seen him around town in the last few weeks." Rossi took out his phone and showed the mugg shot.

"That's the weird guy, all right, his hair's shorter now and he was just wearing jeans and a teeshirt, but that's him. Ain't seen him around town, just here yesterday, but I haven't been to town since the leg."

"Thank you, I appreciate you talking with us, one last thing, can you point out where the man went after he left you?"

Meevin reclaimed his shotgun cane and lead the trio of men down to the water, pointing out a leafy patch that was still recovering from being trampled.

Rossi groaned, "I should have worn boots this morning." as he began the verdant walk, Pritchard leading the way.

"Just avoid the poison ivy, I'll buy you some calomine lotion when we catch this guy." Morgan shook Meevin's hand as he brought up the rear, leaving the cripple to his shotgun and fishing.

/\/\/\

A sharp rap on the window brought Reid out of his thoughts. After leaving the team, he was sitting in the government SUV, the windows rolled down slightly. The heat was close to unbearable but it reminded him of Las Vegas. Looking out the window, he saw the source of the rap. A smiling, messy-haired man was squinting in at him. Reid slid out of the vehicle, his body rejoicing at the twenty degree change.

"If someone did that to their dog, he would be pumpled to death." The man pulled Reid into a tight hug. "Sera let me know you were here. What's up Sparky? Good to see you man, its been six years, I think."

"Nearly two decades, Colin. I haven't seen you since I was eight."

"Come on,give me some credit. Just because you didn't see me, doesn't mean I didn't see you. You were giving a FBI schpell at the University of Illinois. Horrible joke about electrons, I guess it just went over my head."

"You came to hear me speak?"

"Well, we were in town. You had been in the BAU for a little bit and we were curious if it had changed you." Colin looked up at the sun, then took Reid's arm and guided them to some shade near the house. Reid was speechless and nearing a panic attack. "But you seem to be doing okay, a bit of a set back a few years ago but, you rallied."

"What? Why?" Reid could only sputter, he rarely was tongue-tied but knowing that he was being monitered by Sera and her uncle was deeply upsetting.

"Why? Well, you had a bit of a drug problem, had John gave you a good talking to."

Reid's addiction to dilaudid was not something he liked to dwell on. "You know the head of the FBI? And you asked him to talk to me about my drug problem?" Reid slumped against the house, mortified.

"You were going to a pretty dark place, Sparky, we couldn't just leave you there. And John was happy to do it, he owes us a few favors."

"The head of the FBI owes you favors?"

Colin reached out a felt Reid's head, like a dad with an overheated school kid. Colin kneeled down and opened his backpack, taking out a bottle of water. "Here, you don't look too good, Sparky." He waited making sure Reid drank.

"But why? I haven't talked to any of you since Phinny dropped me two decades ago."

Colin realized for the first time that his words were distressing the man in front of him. "Just because you're mad at us, doesn't mean we stop being your family." Colin said it like he was explaining to a five year-old. "If we stopped looking after members of this family just because we were angry at them, we'd all be hermits living in caves." Reid slid down the house as the weight of the words kept hitting him.

Collin had to lean in to catch Reid's muttering. "Sera dropped me, without a word, two decades ago and know he tells me that she's been pulling strings for me. Discussing me with my boss's boss's boss. Great. Been hanging out with my mom, takes her kids to visit."

"I mean, we're hardly the Waltons but we support each other. I told Seraphina, she needed to tell you about her visits, suggested she invite you for Easter Sunday. Bring you back into the fold. But you don't drink anymore and the only way to survive Easter is to be completely plowed. The last person to attempt a sober Sunday was Odette, when she was preggers with Sera. And she punched my mother right before dessert."

"This doesn't make any sense, how do you guys even thnk I'm a member of your family? That is completely crazy."

"You've been family since that first day. Do you really think we beat people up just for any random person?"

"Kind of, the fight at school was pretty random."

"Yes, but you weren't. Do remember Mr McNalty? He was the special eduation teacher, you had extra classes with him after school?"

"Yes, he wasn't at the school very long, but I would go...and Sera was there. I never talked to her but she had classes too, didn't she?"

"Sera had dyslexia and needed extra tutoring, and having you in the room kept her from being alone with McNalty. You were safe, McNalty liked little girls, not boys. Sera told us about the creepy vibe, Cedric and our father had a chat with him..."

"And he never came back. Are you admitting that Sera's dad and grandfather killed McNalty?"

"I would never say that, especially to a member of law enforcement, many many many years later. I was merely explaining why myself and Sera might come to the aid of a boy getting his ass whupped on the school yard. And why we would want to ease some of the rough patches you've faced."

"What else? I saw the photos of Sera and my mother, is there anything else I need to know?"

"Well, there's need to know and NEED to know." Reid glared at the man. "We look after you because we care. You need to understand that nothing we've help you with deminishes anything you've accomplished, Sparky. We picked your roommates in college, your first apartment, we nudged the FBI recruiter towards you, but mostly to keep the CIA away. Sera pays about half of your mother's hospital tab." For the first time, Colin looked uncomfortable with the conversation. "She's worked something out with them because she raises so much money for research, its not the hospital's fault that they kept the billing hidden from you."

"Why is she taking care of my mother?"

"You know, ideally you should ask these questions to Sera...but, for one, she likes your mother, enjoys her company. For two, with Odette gone, Diana is the next best mom she has, none of her aunts really stepped up after my brother and sister-in-law died."

"When was that?"

"1993. April."

"When the letters stopped. I thought...I thought she found cooler friends, didn't want me around."

"We went up to the sight of the plane crash to gather some ashes, I could barely get her to drink water, I never even thought about your letters at the time. Sera really lost it, didn't talk for a whole year, by the time she was ready to talk to anyone, you had stopped writing. I encouraged her to call or write you, thought it would be good for her. But those last few letters you sent...they were pretty rough. I think she was scared of you."

"Me? I'm the least threatening adult in four states."

"Sure, now. You've evened out a bit and Sera's caught up to you in a lot of ways, but you were pretty intense as a kid, Sparky. Giant brainiac that you are. Sera saw how you reacted when your dad left. Badly. You had written about your mom, and how she was getting more erratic week by week."

"That wouldn't have effected how I saw Sera, I just wanted my friend back."

"Look at it from her side, for a minute. Sera thought something had broken inside her head, your mother already had something broken in her head, and you are scared shitless that something is going wrong in your head. You've been worrying about that since Diana started getting worse. Sera saw all that, even then she was great at reading people. What was she going to say in her first letter back, 'Hi, I'm crazy now! Your mom's nuts and you can come join us! Yay! Let's be friends again!' Sera's pretty brave but, I don't think she's that bold."

Colin let his words sink in before continuing. "She did force me to go to your high school graduation, we hooted and hollered as you crossed the stage."

"I thought I heard her voice...figured I was dreaming."

"After that, I kept an eye on you, passing it to Sera after she finished college. Just making sure you were okay. Helping where we can."

Colin turned to lean against the house, looking around he saw Cevin and Sera leading a group out into the cemetary. "And really, the only question I have for you is-Why did you give up on her?"

"What do you mean? Sera stopped writting first, I wrote for two weeks without a response."

"Two weeks and you gave up your best friend? Sera was crazy at the time, so I get her excuse. But you could have called or written directly to me, you were an imaginative kid, you should have come up with something."

Reid changed from sad to mad, "I needed her and she wasn't talking to me! We had been writting for three years and the letters stopped with no explaination!"

"Sera lost her parents in a single day. She loved you and you gave up too easily. You weren't the only one who needed a best friend, Sparky. Just let that great brain of yours percolate on that for awhile."

Colin pushed off the house, heading down into the cemetary to look after his niece.


	6. Chapter 6

Preeta and Cevin were in the grave, shoveling as Colin came toward the group. He heard singing as the dirt flew.

_I can't decide_  
_ Whether you should live or die _  
_Oh, you'll probably go to heaven _  
_Please don't hang your head and cry _  
_No wonder why _  
_My heart feels dead inside _  
_It's cold and hard and petrified _  
_Lock the doors and close the blinds _  
_We're going for a ride_

Colin stopped at his neice's side and bent down to kiss her head, "How's the grave robbing business, kiddo?"

Sera's voice was hollow as she looked up at him "You're here." Her knees, hands and shoes were covered with soil as she lay in the grass, watching Kadin play in the growing pile of dirt.

"As if I could stay away." Getting a better look at the Feds, he muttered, "Oh, fuck me."

Colin went to shake hands with Hotch, Emily and JJ, turning to wave at the kids, he crossed himself subtly before talking to the BAU members. "I'm Colin Clemmens, Sera's uncle and family middleman. Just to get it out of the way, you can call this guy to confirm I was not in-state this morning." he handed a card to Hotch, "I was listening to a sermon at a laymen's academy in Delaware, he'll remember me. My phone went off in the middle."

"You're the worst priest ever, Colin! Sorry. I meant lamest layman ever." Cevin stopped singing just long enough the jeer the man.

_My heart feels dead inside _  
_It's cold and hard and petrified_

Emily smacked her head, "So much singing." JJ took the card from Hotch so that she could check Colin's alilby.

"In bad taste? Sure, but come, on Agent Prentiss, what else are you supposed to do while digging up bodies? Personally, I would have gone with BOC." Colin winked at Emily. "But either way, it would be weirder if it was silent."

Uncomfortable, Emily blurted out, "You're a priest."

Kindly, he didn't confirm if that was a question or a statement, Colin just shook his head, "No, I just work for The Church. But today, I work for my family."

_Lock the doors and close the blinds _  
_We're going for a ride_

Going to the hole, "Okay, Preeta, my turn." He lifted the girl out of the grave and jumped in, joining in with the singing.

_Oh I could throw you in the lake _  
_Or feed you poisoned birthday cake _  
_I won't deny I'm gonna miss you when you're gone _  
_Oh I could bury you alive _  
_But you might crawl out with a knife _  
_And kill me when I'm sleeping _  
_That's why-_

Hotch and Sera perked up as the rhythmic shifting of soil was joined with a thunk into cardboard. Cevin hoisted the box onto the grave's edge, barely able to see over the edge, he called out, "Hey, Mensa! Welcome back to the party!" The boy ducked down again, bringing two more boxes up as Colin levered himself out of the grave.

"Leave him alone, Cevin." Sera's scowl made the boy swallow whateverelse he was going to say. Rather, he chose to scramble out so he could lay down next to her. Sera scanned the treeline, avoiding Reid's approach to the group.

Preeta pulled the boxes to her, wiping the excess soil away. "This one's Cevin's." She pushed it toward the boy. "This is mine." She held it on her lap. Picking up the last, she handed it up to Hotch, "This is Micah's. I can tell by the careful taping."

"Okay, Reid, lets sift through this, see there's anything that leads to better understanding of victimology." Hotch carried the large shoebox over to another tombstone, took out a pocket knife and sliced through the tape. The multiple layers of plastic adhesive had left the contents dry and undamaged. "Kind of a novel way of locking away your past."

"Doesn't everyone have things about their past they'd like to bury? I should make one of these for myself." Emily muttered.

The team dived into the court records, police statements and doctor's findings. Reid joined but without his usual enthusiasm for new knowledge and JJ couldn't help but comment on the white elephant in the room.

"Are you okay, Spence?"

Reid snorted and arched his eyebrow, "Nope. Definitely not okay. Stunned, tramatized, angry, sad, disappointed, try one of those. But not okay." Reid flipped through a couple pages of photos taken by social servies when Micah was first found. He squinted through the bruises to see multiple brands scattered over the boy's skin. "Ownership."

"Hey Sera, you were adopting Micah, right?" Reid watched as she cautiously got up.

"Hey, guys rebury our friend here." She gestured to Colin to keep an eye on the treeline while the trio began pushing dirt.

As she joined the team, Reid gave her a nervous nod before continuing. "I can see some marks on Micah's back in some of these photos." He showed the pages to Sera, who quickly averted her face, her eyes focused on the tiny pattern of Hotch's tie.

"Yeah, Devareaux would heat things on his stove and..." The blood drained out of her face, she whispered, "Please don't make me think about that..not now." She lowered her head, covering her eyes. "We've been going into DC to see a dermatologist, see if we can remove the brands."

"Should I talk to Colin, instead?" She shook her head, but remained guarded. "Did you, did you ever tell the guard, Geoffrey Moore, that you were filing for full adoption?" Reid spoke softly so his words wouldn't travel to the working group behind them.

"Yes, he called on the Fourth of July, I'm giving Micah the papers to sign as a surprise for his birthday in two weeks."

Emily jumped in, "So, Moore would have known about the adoption when Devareaux attacked him."

"And his need to have ownership over his son-"

Sera rose her head and cut Reid off. "He's my son, Micah is my son. I've spent years erasing that monster's actions. Robert was a fucking alien when he came to my house, Micah learned how to make friends, find value in himself, and trust people. Micah's come so far. And he is not that asshole's concern any longer."

"Sera, that's how you see Micah. Devareaux still sees the scared kid that he created through abuse and neglect. You have turned Micah around, he has a chance now that he wouldn't have if he never came here. Frankly, knowing you has probably multiplied his likely hood of surviving his abduction. What I was getting to, is that Devareaux is a preferential pedophile, when he was arrested he was linked to several other molestation investigations. Micah no longer fits his preferences."

"He was expecting Robert, but he kidnapped Micah. I haven't met the kid, but if he's anything like his family, Devareaux's bitten off more than he planned." JJ's phone went off, she stepped away to answer, "Rossi?"

Emily went through her thoughts out loud, "So, Devareaux is a preferential pedophile who's preferences are not being met. Would he go serching for another kid, leaving Micah in a hideout? Take Micah along, possibly having to control two people if he finds another victim. Or does he cut his loses once he finds out that Micah is not the same easy target? Just killing the boy, so he can flee?"

"I don't have words to express how unhelpful that was to me." Sera glared at Emily, both women looked over at the grave as Preeta fell to the ground crying, Sera left to gather her daughter together, Kadin hugged Cevin's legs as the boys just stared at the BAUers.

"Hey, guys!" JJ was paler than usual as she hung up from Rossi's call. "Morgan and Rossi found Devareaux."

"What about Micah?" Colin shouted as the rest of the family braced for what came next.


	7. Chapter 7

"Oh, shit boy, this is going to be fun, just like old times." Devareaux was pacing back and forth in the old shack. Micah watched sunshine alight the dust being kicked up. Whatever warmth the sun provided to the earth was not reaching the boy on the cement floor. The cold eased his shoulder which was slowly pulling out of its socket. Feet and hands bound to keep him from running. Micah did not move to ease the pain. The gag in his mouth kept Micah from screaming and the pain kept him from falling asleep.

When he was a child and Richard would attack him, Robert would shut down to protect himself, sleeping until it was over and he was left alone. Sometimes Robert would sleep for days in a pool of his own crusted blood and urine before Richard would throw him into a scalding bathtub, ordering him to clean himself and then the floor.

But he wasn't Robert any longer. And he wouldn't sleep. He would wait, wait until he had his chance. He fingered a small pen knife that he habitually kept on his person.

"...You're not much to look at any longer, but you'll do for now. We'll move on and I'll shop for something more to my liking." Richard released his belt and crouched down at Micah's face. "Maybe that little redhead I saw this morning." He laughed and punched Micah in the ear causing a grunt of pain as his shoulder seperated. Tears streamed down his face, elating his tormentor.

A terrible smile stretched across Richard's face, "Ah, just like old times. You know, I think that other little boy that bitch took in would be a good fit for me. Never went for a black kid before but tt would give me another chance to pay back that slut for stealing my property." He kicked the boy again and rocked back on his heels, pulling his shirt over his head.

Micah was done waiting.

/\/\/\/\

Rossi and Morgan followed Pritchard out of the woods. The local sherriff had led them to another ramshackle building after winding through the underbrush of pastoral Virginia. Rossi saw it first, the dark green Linoln was sitting in a crowd of trees, well camoflaged by nature. He signaled the other men to halt, pointing at the vehicle. Morgan and Rossi both pulled their weapons while Pritchard called for backup. All hoped that GPS would be enough for help to locate them in the middle of nowhere.

Morgan siddled up to the side of the shack, cocking his head to listen for any voices. Hearing nothing, he worked his way to the corner. There was a door and a small window in the spanse of wall but no people outside the building.

Morgan waved Rossi to his side, pointing out the window, motioning that he wanted Rossi to cover him as he checked inside the building. Morgan stood to one side of the window, swinging to the otherside, his gun trained through the dirty glass. Morgan saw no one at chest height. He swung in front of the window, slower, taking in the whole of the room. There was a body on the floor.

Morgan kept his gun aimed at the body, "Rossi, there is someone laying on the floor covered in blood." Rossi checked the door handle, it was unlocked. He made entry, Pritchard at his back.

The body on the floor did not move as the men cleared the room, Pritchard kneeled down to press against the male's neck, "He's breathing." The joy in his voice was evident until he turned the body over. "It's Devareaux. Where the hell is Micah?" Pritchard slapped the unconscious man. The second hit was a closed-fist punch which brought about a grunt and a hacking cough.

Rossi pulled Pritchard off the spasming man, "He can't answer our questions if he's dead, John!"

Morgan grabbed Devareaux roughly, "Where's Micah?"

Between coughs and raged breaths, Devareaux shouted, "Who the hell is Micah?" One of his coughs spewed drops of blood over his torso, "Stop shaking me, jackass, my ribs are broken!"

Morgan dropped the man back to the cement. "Where's the boy you kidnapped this morning, Devareaux?"

"Nothing wrong with a man talking to his son..."

"There is if that concerned father is also a convicted felon who just skipped out of prison after he killed a guard. We already got you on that, buy yourself some good will and tell us where Micah is." Rossi holstered his gun and swallowed his hatred of the man in front of him, forcing detachment into his voice.

"Micah...what a fairy name, that bitch! His name is Robert. Robert Devareaux, always will be."

"Where is he?"

"I'm facing multiple life sentences, fuck you." Devareaux curled over, his ribs twinging as he laughed. The sickening sound filled the room.

A/N two short updates in two days yay, only one or two to go, maybe an epilouge... now if only my writer's block would end on my other fic...enjoy, any feed back is appreciated


	8. Chapter 8

Colin advanced on the BAU team, "What do you mean that Micah is not with Devareaux?" He slapped a hand over his shouting mouth, taking a deep breath before collecting himself. "Where the hell is he? If he's not there..."

Sera clung to her daughter, their wails mixing together as Colin's unspoken words rang in their ears. Cevin lifted Kadin up to his hip, furiously pacing between tombstones, in one hand he flicked a zippo lighter over and over. Kadin petted Cevin's shoulder, the little boy seemed to not understand what was happening but deperately wanted everyone to calm down.

Hotch left the others to grieve and spoke directly to Colin. "Devareaux did admit to having Micah, but isn't talking. Devareaux's been beaten and cut up, seems like Micah's behind that." Hotch exhaled loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Pritchard is bringing the K-9 Unit out there to see if they can track him down. He could be wandering around out there lost."

"Cevin, come here." Sera extracated herself from Preeta, wrapping the girl around her brothers when he kneeled at her side. Wresting the lighter from Cevin's hand, she got up and wiped her face, smearing dirt into the tears. "Who gave you a lighter? No lighters, fire bug. Stay together and make some noise, I want to be able to hear y'all." Sera looked down at Preeta who was struggling to follow her example by calming her sobs, "The louder and sillier, the better. Try VeggieTales."

Kadin started a round of "The Water Buffalo Song" he knew every word, and the others joined in after the first verse.

Sera joined the adults with an ear tuned to her children. "I want to talk to Devareaux. He knows where my son is and I want to talk to him."

"That's not a good idea, Sera." Colin took her arm as fatigue showed on her face.

"No, its not. Wouldn't do any good either." Reid cut his frien-whatever she was off, before she could argue. "Devareaux already knows that he's facing centuries being added to his sentence. Even if you beat him with a shovel, he won't help because it won't benefit him any. He won't get a deal now."

"Talking to me could keep him from waking up as soil thunks atop the coffin, when I bury him alive. He might see that as a benefit."

Forcing himself not to hear what his niece said and tightening his grip on her, Colin asked, "How do we convince Devareaux that it would be to his benefit?"

"The K-9 unit will have a good chance of tracking Micah. I know its hard, but you have to let us do our jobs, Pritchard will keep us updated." Hotch's phone rang, "Hotch...The K-9 unit is in the woods..."

Sera held up her hand, "Shhh...Shut up!" Even the singing stopped as everyone focused on the woman who had froze in place.

"Mom! Mom!" Sera shook her uncle off and ran to the treeline, forcing her way through branches and brambles, Colin on her tail.

As Hotch, Emily and JJ went to join the search for the owner of the voice, Reid held back. He blocked Cevin as the boy tried to enter the woods. "Your mom would want you to stay here, you need to protect your family." Reid physically turned the boy back to his sister and brother. Cevin gave in at the stressed and anxious faces of his siblings. "Sing, make sure that they can make there way back here."

Preeta drew Kadin onto her lap, Cevin sat behind them hugging them all together. He looked up and saw Reid unholster his weapon. The agent was scanning the treeline as the kids started up again.

_Once I rose above the noise and confusion _  
_Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion _  
_I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high _  
_Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man _  
_Though my mind could think I still was a mad man _  
_I hear the voices when I'm dreamin', I can hear them say_

"That's awesome guys, Emily will love it." Reid couldn't hear his team any longer. Sweat, that had nothing to do with the heat, broke out on his forehead.

_Carry on, my wayward son  
For there'll be peace when you are done  
Lay your weary head to rest  
Don't you cry no more_

The song ended abruptly as a pained grunt rent the air. Staring in the direction of the noise, the children clutched each other closer.

Colin returned first, tumbling out of the undergrowth. "He's here, its Micah!"

Sera and Micah emerged from the woods. Micah was covered in blood and dirt, craddling his arm against his chest. Relieved tears poured down his face, faster than Sera could wipe them away. The kids ran to them, exhuberant to be reunited. The crashing bodies knocked everyone down. Micah took the pain when Preeta snuggled into his side. It was the kind of pain that was bearable.

No one minded the blood or dirt as the family laid together in the sun.

/\/\/\/\/\

"...When he said he was going to snatch Kadin, I realized that I needed to protect him. No one was there to stop what happened to me, but I could stop it myself now." Micah sat in his kitchen, shoulder bandaged to help the damaged connectors heal. Sera was at his side, tears sliding down her face. Micah had wanted her there so she would know the whole story. They would share a modified version later with Cevin, Preeta and Kadin.

Those three were currently draped all over the house, sleeping the sleep of the relieved and safe. Colin prowled the house, keeping an eye on everyone. He knew that rest would only come to him after Sera and Micah were settled down.

"Mom gave us all penknives for Easter, I cut the rope on my wrist and when he came toward me, I caught him in the stomach with the knife. Got my feet free. I was so mad..." The boy couldn't get the words out but pantomimed multiple punches, wincing as he wrenched his shoulder. "After I just started walking, knew I would hit a road eventually. Going uphill whenever I had a choice. Home is uphill."

"And then I heard the singing. I had stopped to puke and when I got up, I heard singing. I thought it was some of Mom's angels, maybe I was really dead. Didn't matter if I was, all that mattered was getting home. I knew I wasn't dreaming when I heard Kadin laugh."

/\/\/\/\

Rossi was saddled with babysitting Devareaux while they waited for the prison transport from the town jail. He wiled away the afternoon writting a recommendation for the dealth penalty for the case. It would save taxpayer's money and this was one piece of slime that was unequivocally guilty. He pretended not to hope for a Virgina execution so he could be there when the needles went in. On the other hand, Devareaux may not make it in front of a judge.

"Here's the photo's you wanted, Dave." Pritchard slapped a manilia folder down on the borrowed desk.

"Thanks, John. Wouldn't want to miss updating the report for distinquishing marks." The men shared a smirk before Pritchard went to welcome the US Marshalls and the armored transport.

Flipping the folder open, Rossi shuffled through multiple pictures of Devareaux's bruised back. Cut across the shoulders was 'pedophile' underneath, a swastika. "My, my, not going to be very popular, are you?"

One way or another, Devareaux was not long for this world.

A/N if you're very good, there will be an epolouge this weekend, also any recommendations on a better title would be awesome, there is another story with the same title, PM or leave in the reviews. thanks!


	9. Chapter 9

She called on a Thursday afternoon.

The FBI switchboard rang up Dr. Spencer Reid's desk. Contrary to most days he was actually there. When he lifted the receiver, a spill of words hit his ear, "If you're free tonight, I would like to talk. Will you meet me at the Starlight Diner? Its on at Newcomb and East Birdsey."

"Sure, about 6?"

"Good."

Reid heard dialtone as he was hung up on, his finger darted across the keypad to get Hotch on the phone, "It's okay if I cut out a little early today, right? No, nothing's wrong. Just ready to be out of here. Yes, I'll see you in the morning." Reid forced a smile into his words and across his face, he knew his boss would be watching through the blinds.

Grabbing his satchel, Reid forgot to say anything to Emily or Morgan as he made for the elevators. Their heads turned to follow him out before returning to the files on their desks.

/\/\/\/\/\

She was dressed simply in a teal peasant blouse, hair pulled off her face with a clip. With her loose jeans and heavy sneakers, she looked younger than her years. Reid watched for a minute as her head darted around, watching for him. She smiled at an old couple in the next booth as the woman spoke to her.

Reid had changed out of the clothes he had worn to work into a nearly identical outfit of short-sleeved shirt, skinny tie and courderoys. He had brushed his hair. With the other two hours he had before the meeting he had gone to the Smithsonian to calm down. Checking his watch every few seconds before walking over to the diner.

The diner itself was full of locals, not tourists, and the counter was lined with police men. Made sense, since they were down the street from the local cop shop. Neutral ground with a lot of witnesses, some with guns. He began to worry about what she had to say to him.

A bell rang as Reid pulled the door open, Sera found him immediately, raising her hand in greeting while biting the inside of her cheek. With more of a pained grimace than a smile, Reid slipped into the booth.

Before either could talk the waitress came over. Reid ordered coffee and pie, Sera soda and cake. Reid studied the wallpaper, frowning at the flaking edge, while Sera picked at her nails. The blue polish flaked onto the table, it was nearly removed from all but her thumbs and pinkies.

"Sugar, anything with sugar." Reid mumbled as the food and drinks were plunked down minutes later. He whacked a couple packs of sugar on the edge of the table.

"No kidding, I've had nothing else all day." Sera smiled as she cut into her cake. "Two packets of PopTarts this morning, half a bag of chocolate chips for lunch. Now cake and soda."

"What kind of PopTarts?"

"Frosted strawberry."

"I like the 'smore ones."

"Can't eat two packets of those, though."

"No, don't think so."

Conversation ground out as they attacked their plates.

Slurping on her straw at the dregs of soda, Sera finally spoke. "Colin told me I owed this to you. That we needed to talk to each other."

"He hinted at the same thing to me, I wanted to give you time with your kids. Let things settle. I went to see my mom."

"She told me when I wrote to reschedule my visit. She really enjoyed seeing you," nervously she added, "you should make the time more often."

"I'm very busy, I never know where I'm going to be."

"Its a five hour flight, tops. It makes a world of difference to her."

"You don't understand."

"You're right, I don't understand. I would give everything for another day with my parents, but that can't hppen until Cevin figures out time travel. You have her just hours away..."

"Not everyone had parents like yours, Sera. Its not as simple as you make it sound." Reid's hand shook as he lifted his coffee for a drink and silence fell.

The glasses were filled again as they stared at each other. Sera ordered another piece of cake, Reid a vanilla shake.

"You can't go visit my mom anymore." Reid sucked on his shake. "And I'm paying you back all your money."

"It's not for you to decide. I'll keep going until Diana tells me she doesn't want to see me. On that day, I'm still going to take care of her."

"I'm her guardian and power of attorney, I could have you banned from seeing her at the hospital."

"You could. But you won't. You would have to explain to your mother, and we both know you won't break her heart like that. So I will keep visiting your mom, I will bring my kids, and Diana will continue to receive homemade gifts at holidays. I have no problem calling your bluff on this one, Sparky."

"Stop calling me that, my name is Spencer. Its embarrassing." Reid sulked, he had lost the battle on his mother.

"You're so serious, Spencer."

"I have a very serious job, I have a lot of responsibility."

"At work. You have a lot of responsibility at work. After hours you're free to have fun, blow off steam, let your brain rest up. Do you have fun when you're not at work?"

Flustered Reid rattled off, "I read, go to lectures, museums, I'm teaching myself piano and finishing my degree in philosophy. And movies, I like movies."

"Do you have friends?"

"Emily and I do stuff."

"Anyone who isn't connected to Quantico?"

That stopped him.

Sera checked her watch and pulled a card out her pocket. "Colin wanted me to give this to you," A business card with her uncle's contact information sat in the middle of the table. "He would like to be your friend, and you know, talk to you on occassion."

Reid picked up the card, tapped it on the table a few times before pulling out his wallet and filing it away. "Maybe."

"Call him even if its just to say you don't want to talk to him. He's been good to you, even if you didn't notice."

"Yeah, spying on me, telling my boss that I have a drug problem."

"I told your boss about your problem. Don't blame Colin for that one."

"You could have ended my career!" Reid hissed at her.

"You were ending your career. What was I supposed to do, just let my best friend flush his life down the drain?"

"We haven't seen talked in 20 years, Sera! I'm not your best friend, I can't be. We're not the same kids that ran all over Vegas together. Why would you even want to be my friend anyway? I've read those last letters I sent you, you should hate me."

"I've never hated you, I understood you why you were so mad at the time, but I didn't hate you. As sad as it sounds,its true, I still haven't replaced you as my best friend, most of the people I know are family." She squinted at him accussingly, "You stole my letters. "

"Stole my letters back, you mean."

"They're my letters, and if you have them you probably stole the entire box. I want my stuff back."

"What's so important about it?"

"Cause its my stuff." She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to get the right words. Shrugging, she decided on, "It's proof that once, I was the most important thing in the world to a boy. He took time every day to write to me. And the day before he never saw me again, he spent $3 in quarters until the right ring fell out of the vending machine."

"It was $6, I just told you it was $3, I didn't want you to think I was being foolish."

"If I had known it was so valuable...I wouldn't have worn it outside the house." She laughed making Reid smile. "I wore it every day until it didn't fit."

Reid laid his hand on Sera's, she flipped hers so they could hold hands. They stayed that way until Sera's watch chirped out an alarm.

"Damn. I have to head for home, the kids..."

Reid nodded and withdrew his hand, "Yeah, okay."

"Micah's still wigged out and Preeta wants to be around me all the time. They're a little high maintenance right now."

"Aren't we all."

A/N Thanks to everyone who got this far! Hope everyone liked it.


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